Land ownership is conveyed through a process of filing notarized documents, called deeds, at the county where the land is located. Because of the complexities of conveying land ownership, a reversal transaction is not a simple process.
Real estate transactions are a big decision. When buying land at DiscountVacantLand.com, each sale involves a series of decisions on your part, to make sure you as a buyer are sure that you would like to proceed with a given purchase.
To summarize, if you’ve purchased land from DiscountVacantLand.com, it means you’ve gone through these steps:
- After seeing our listing, you verified the information in the listing to your satisfaction, part of which may have included a site visit. All our land has GPS coordinates listed, and buyers are encouraged to visit at their convenience.
- You completed and signed a purchase agreement expressing your intent to purchase.
- You completed and signed a form authorizing payment, either in full or in automated monthly payments, via credit/debit card, ACH, or bank wire.
- If the purchase was using automated monthly payments, you will also have signed a contract-for-deed, which is a legal contract that supersedes this Return Policy, specifying the payment schedule and that the deed will be conveyed at the end of the contract term, and details what happens in the event of non-performance/non-payment.
- You completed a form instructing us how you’d like to take title, who will be the Grantee on the deed — in other words, who will own the land you are buying — as well as the new address for property tax bills.
- We allow the buyer to specify Grantee information to enable a buyer to purchase land in the name of those close to them, such as a gift for a child.
- We created and signed a notarized deed conveying the land to the person you specified.
- We recorded the deed at the county, and instructed the county to return the recorded deed to you.
DiscountVacantLand.com does not issue refunds once the new deed has been signed, notarized, and sent to the respective county recorder’s office. In select situations we may purchase the property back from a buyer, less any costs for time, recreating documents, notarization costs, and recording costs.
Avoiding Extra Costs
In order for any refund or return to occur without incurring extra costs, the deed must not have been recorded at the county (such as with an ongoing contract-for deed prior to the end of the contract term). If the deed has already been recorded, the land must be conveyed back to us, and will incur fees from DiscountVacantLand.com, the county, and a notary public.
Cost of re-conveying Property
To ensure the return of property is conveyed properly and legally, DiscountVacantLand.com will prepare the deed and associated documents, at a cost of $399, which will be deducted from any refunds due. Additionally, any notary and/or county fees will be deducted from any refunds due. These fees vary based on the county. In the case that these fees exceed the refund due, the return may become a net loss for you. Again, please be mindful when purchasing real estate.
Terms Sales
In the case of terms sales with automatic monthly payments, the actual return policy will be governed by the legal instrument used (usually a contract for deed), as it is a separate contract we have entered into above and beyond the scope of this website.
Eligibility
To be eligible for a return/refund, the deed conveying the property to you must not yet be recorded. If we have emailed you a scanned copy of the signed and notarized deed, it means that the deed is on it’s way to the county recorder and you will need to re-convey the property back to us. Even if you have not yet received the recorded deed, the recording process is be irreversible and a second deed will need to be created to process the return. If the property has been recorded in your name or the name of your designee, DiscountVacantLand.com will need to approve the return, as certain circumstances may cause a return request to be outside our control. If you request a return, we will contact you informing you of the options regarding the return.
Document Prep Fee
DiscountVacantLand.com charges a document prep fee to create documentation to support the conveying of land to you. Our document prep fee is non-refundable, and will be deducted from any approved refunds. An additional document prep fee, if applicable, may also need to be deducted if we must prepare a deed associated with a return.
Refunds
Once a re-conveyed deed is received and inspected, we will send you an email to notify you that we have received your returned item. We will also notify you of the approval or rejection of your refund. If you are approved, then your refund will be processed, and a credit will automatically be applied to your credit card or original method of payment, within a certain amount of days.
Missing refunds
We will mail you a cashier’s check for any funds that correspond to the return of the property. If you’ve done all of this and you still have not received your refund yet, please contact us at Matt@DiscountVacantLand.com.
Exchanges
In certain circumstances, and on a case-by-case basis, DiscountVacantLand.com may approve an exchange for similarly priced property. Any notary or county fees associated with conveying a property back to us are your responsibility. Please note, the price of the property is not the only factor governing our decision to approve an exchange, and in certain instances we may be legally unable to provide an exchange.
Notwithstanding the above paragraph, to be eligible for an exchange, we need to know why you are requesting an exchange. We encourage buyers to perform their own due diligence prior to purchasing, and your purchase agreement acknowledges that you have completed all inspections to your satisfaction, therefore we cannot accept a reason that could have been discovered during your initial due diligence period.
Gifts
Be careful when buying land as a gift, as there are property taxes associated with land ownership, and some people may not consider land a thoughtful gift. Regarding returns on land which has been gifted, any land you purchase to convey into the name of someone else will need to have that person’s approval, including a notarized signature, in the event of a return. Deeding a parcel of land to a minor, for example, will require that the minor reach legal age, so that he/she may sign the deed conveying the property back to us, which will delay any associated refunds.
Shipping
In the course of a return, a recorded deed needs to be returned to us, and the county assessor needs to update their property tax records with our address. Please instruct the county tax assessor and the county recorder to mail the recorded deed and new property tax bills to us at:
1111 West El Camino Real, Ste 109-268, Sunnyvale, CA 94087
You will be responsible for paying for your own shipping costs for returning your item. Shipping costs are non-refundable. If you receive a refund, the cost of return shipping will be deducted from your refund.
We Own All Properties Sold
DiscountVacantLand.com’s parent company and manager is a principal owner, wholly or partially, in all land parcels sold, and is not a licensed real estate professional. We are a real estate investment vehicle, and as such, we may only represent ourselves in real estate transactions.
Be mindful when purchasing land.